This Wooden Machine Can Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide

If you like to learn modern technologies, go to Brilliant at https://brilliant.org/QuasarEd/ and learn for free for a full 30 days. You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription. This video is sponsored by Brilliant. Hi everyone. Today, we’re going to explore how the Schickard Calculator works. It’s astonishing that this wooden machine, built over 400 years ago, could actually perform calculations. Even more incredible is how close it came to being lost forever. For centuries, Schickard’s invention was completely forgotten. It wasn’t until 1935 that historian Franz Hammer discovered surviving letters Schickard had written to Johannes Kepler. In those letters, Schickard described a device he called the “calculating clock,” along with notes explaining how it was built. Using this information, a fully working version was finally reconstructed in 1960 at the University of Tübingen by Professor von Freytag. Without Schickard’s connection to Kepler, we might never have known who he was or that this invention ever existed. It makes you wonder how many brilliant minds have vanished from history simply because their records were lost, their inventions destroyed, or they lacked ties to well-known figures. If you like to learn more about Schickard's history, check out this blog post http://ds-wordpress.haverford.edu/bit... If you like watching high quality explainer videos like this, consider subscribing to my channel. For those who want to go an extra mile, consider supporting me on Patreon at   / quasared   . Your support will help me keep doing what I love doing which is sharing the knowledge. #mechanicalengineering #calculator #howitworks #vintagemachinery